Positive and constant-tension take-up mechanism for knitting and other textile machines



CLENTIMACK 2,621,500

2 SHEETSSHEET l FOR KNITTING AND OTHER TEXTILE MACHINES POSITIVE AND CONSTANT-TENSION TAKE-UP MECHANISM Dec. 16, 1952 Flled Aprll 4 1951 E. CLENTIMACK POSITIVE AND CONSTANT-TENSION TAKE-UP MECHANISM Dec. 16, 1952 FOR KNITTING AND OTHER TEXTILE MACHINES 2- Sl-IEETSr-SI-iEET 2 Filed April 4, 1951 INVI JNlTOR. 'Geor 'qe E. C/enfimack Patented Dec. 16, 1952 POSITIVE AND- CONSTANT-TENSION TAKE- UP MECHANISM FOR KNITTING AND OTHER TEXTILE MACHINES George E. .Clentimack, Plainville, Mass, assignor to Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Ap tion A i 1951, S r a Nil-12, 9,2 1

8 Claims.

This invention relates to knitting and other textile machines in which a sheet of cloth or other fabric is produced and is thereafter wound on a take-up roll.

It is essential for uniformity in cloth structure that the cloth be wound under uniform cloth tension, so that the cloth will contain the same number of picks or stitches per unit of length. It is also necessary to gradually reduce the winding speed as the diameter of the cloth roll increases.

It is the general object of my invention to provide improved take-up mechanism in which the rateof winding will be automatically decreased in definite relation to the increase in cloth roll diameter, and in which uniform cloth tension is automatically and continuously maintained.

In the preferred form of my invention, the cloth take-up is under the control of an actuating member which is rotated by the differential effeet between the oil pull induced between a continuously-rotated driving member and said actuating member, and the oil drag induced between a stationary brake member and said actuating member.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an end elevation of my improved takeup mechanism, partly in section, and with the casing cover omitted;

Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation, taken along the irregular section line 22 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a detail view to be described.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a cloth roll B (Fig. 2) associated with a head It fixed on a take-up shaft [2. The shaft 12 is rotatable in bearings 14 in a bracket l mounted on the machine frame F.

The take-up shaft [2 is driven and rotated through a gear train comprising a gear at fixed to the shaft l2, and a pinion 2| and associated gear 22 mounted to rotate together on a stud 23 fixed in the casing C of the take-up tension unit, which casing is provided with a removable cover C. The gear 22 engages a pinion 24 associated with a worm gear 25, and both are mounted on a bushing 26 freely rotatable on the reduced end portion of the take-up shaft 12.

The worm gear 25 is rotated by a worm 30 (Fig. 1) mounted on a worm shaft 31 which is rotatable inbearings in a sleeve 32. The sleeve 32 may be adjusted axially ina fixed bearing .33. ,1 a stand 3.4 fixed to the back of the casing C. The sleeve may be held in axially adjusted position by a binding screw 33.

A driving member or runner 40 is mounted on the lower end of the worm shaft 3| and has an upper annular flange portion 4] extending into an annular recess in a brake member 42, preferably formed on the lower end of the sleeve 32. The driving member or runner 40 also has a depending annular flange extendinginto an annular recess in the, upper surface of a driving clutch member 47 mounted at the upper endof a short shaft 48.

The shaft 48 is rotatable in fixed bearings 49 and has a bevel gear 50 atits lower endwhich meshes with a bevel gear 5| (Fig. 2) mounted at the end of a driving shaft 52.

The shaft 52 has a fixed bearing and extends through a sleeve or stand 55 fixed at the back side of the casing C. The shaft 52 has a second bearing 56 in the outer end of the stand 55.and is provided at its end with :a sprocket 69 connected by a chain 62 (Fig. 3) ,to a sprocket Mon a, continuously rotated shaft 65, which may desirably be the cam shaft of an associated knitting machine.

At its upper end, the worm shaft ,3! extends into an inverted cap or. casing It and is provided with a thrust bearing 7 l which receives the down.- ward thrust of a compression coil spring 12. The upper end of the sprin abuts a plate or washer in which is engaged and pqsitioned by an adustmg screw 15 threaded into the upper end of the cap-70.

A graduated sleeve or thimble l? is also threaded on the screw it and may be fixed relative thereto by a lock nut 78. By turning the thimble l1 and screw 15, the degree of compression of the spring "12 may be manually adjusted.

The casing C is to be filled with heavytransmission oil above the upper surface of the fixed brake member 42, so that the runner 4i] and the associated brake member t2 and driving clutch member 41 all run in oil.

A plug (Fig. 1) is provided at th feeding oil to the casing, and a plug 81 1053132 for drawing off theoilshould it become necessary to remove the cover 0 from the casing. A portion of cloth L is indicated in broken lines on the roll R, and the direction of a ro cloth L is indicated in Fig. 1'. pp ash of the Operation As previously t t my improved takeaup 3 mechanism is designed to take-up or wind the cloth L on the roll R at a constant rate of linear travel, and also under constant and continuous tension.

The desired tension is initially obtained by experimental axial adjustment of the braking member 42 and sleeve 32 in the bearing 33, and by adjusting the compression of the spring 12 by means of the adjusting screw 15 and thimble 71.

The clutch member 41 is continuously rotated at constant speed and in definite relation to the speed of rotation of the cam shaft 65. The runner 40 is rotated by the differential between the pull of the oil film between the lower flange 45 of the runner and the driving member 41 on the one hand, and the drag of the oil film between the upper flange 4! of the runner and the fixed brake member 42.

As the runner 40 is shifted axially between the members 42 and 41, the differential driving force and the corresponding speed of rotation of the runner 40 and associated parts will naturally increase or decrease. Such axial shifting is under the joint control of the winding tension in the cloth L as it approaches the take-up roll and the downward pressure of the spring 12.

The winding tension acts directly through the teeth of the worm gear to shift the worm 30, worm shaft 3| and runner 40 upwardly, while the spring 12 acts directly to shift these same parts downwardly. When these forces are in balance, the runner is rotated at a constant but reduced speed by the clutch member 41 and takes up the cloth at the desired constant rate of winding.

If the winding tension increases, the worm and runner will be shifted slightly upwardly,

thus increasing the braking effect and decreasing the speed until the undue winding tension has been relieved. If, on the other hand, the a winding tension slackens, the spring 12 will overcome the pressure of the worm gear 25 on the worm 30 and will shift the runner 40 and associated parts slightly downward, thus increasing the pull of the clutch member 41 and speedingup the winding until the desired winding tension has been restored.

All parts are thus maintained automatically in balance, and any deviation in winding tension is promptly corrected throughout the winding operation.

No adjustment is necessary to take care of the increase in diameter of the cloth roll, as the increased pull required to wind the cloth L on the roll R at a larger diameter automatically reacts through the worm gear 25 and worm 30 to shift the worm 3G, runner 6t and associated parts upward against the pressure of the spring 72. Such upward shifting increases the braking effect of the brake member 42 and correspondingly reduces the speed of rotation of the runner 46 and the gear train operated thereby.

By selecting correct speed relations in the gear train, the winding speed will be constantly maintained in direct relation to the diameter of the cloth roll and will progressively decrease as the diameter of the roll increases. The winding tension will also be maintained substantially constant.

I claim:

1. A take-up mechanism for a textile machine having a rotated take-up roll comprising a driven shaft, a speed-reducing connection between said shaft and said rotated take-up roll, a continuously-rotated driving shaft, a clutch member thereon, an opposed stationary brake member, and a runner connected to said driven shaft and positioned between said rotating clutch member and said stationary brake member, said shafts and associated parts being immersed in transmission oil and said runner and driven shaft being rotated by the excess of the oil-transmitted pull of the clutch member over the oil-transmitted drag of the brake member.

2. The combination in take-up mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which the speed-reducing connection to the take-up roll is irreversible.

3. A take-up mechanism for a textile machine having a rotated take-up roll comprising a driven shaft, a speed-reducing connection between said shaft and said rotated take-up roll, a continuously-rotated driving shaft, a clutch member thereon, an opposed stationary brake member, a runner connected to said driven shaft and positioned between said rotating clutch member and said stationary brake member, said shafts and associated parts being immersed in transmission oil and said runner and driven shaft being rotated by the excess of the oil-transmitted pull of the clutch member over the oil-transmitted drag of the brake member, and means to adjust the total amount of clearance between said clutch member, said runner and said brake member.

4. A take-up mechanism for a textile machine having a rotated take-up roll comprising a driven shaft, a speed-reducing connection between said shaft and said rotated take-up roll, a continuously-rotated driving shaft, a clutch member thereon, an opposed stationary brake member, a

runner connected to said driven shaft and positioned between said rotatin clutch member and said stationary brake member, said shafts and associated parts being immersed in transmission oil and said runner and driven shaft being rotated by the excess of the oil-transmitted pull of the clutch member over the oil-transmitted drag of the brake member, and means to vary the proportionate clearance of said runner relative to said clutch member and to said brake member.

5. A take-up mechanism for a textile machine having a rotated take-up roll comprising a driven shaft, a speed-reducing connection between said shaft and said rotated take-up roll, a continuously-rotated driving shaft, a clutch member thereon, an opposed stationary brake member, a runner connected to said driven shaft and positioned between said rotating clutch member and said stationary brake member, said shafts and associated parts being immersed in transmission oil and said runner and driven shaft being ro-' tated by the excess of the oil-transmitted pull of the clutch member over the oil-transmitted drag of the brake member, and means to vary the proportionate clearance of said runner relative to said clutch member and to said brake member, and said latter means including a spring acting to shift said runner axially toward said clutch member on decrease in take-up tension.

6. The combination in take-up mechanism as set forth in claim 5, in which the speed-reducing connections include a worm gear on the take-up roll and a worm on the driven shaft, and in which the take-up tension acts through said worm gear directly against said worm to shift said driven shaft axially and to thereby decrease the effective oil-transmission pull of the clutch member on the runner.

7. A take-up mechanism for a textile machine having a rotated take-up roll comprising a driven shaft, a speed-reducing connection between said shaft and said rotated take-up roll, a continuously-rotated driving shaft, a clutch member thereon, an opposed stationary brake member, a runner connected to said driven shaft and positioned between said rotating clutch member and said stationary brake member, said shafts and associated parts being immersed in transmission oil and said runner and driven shaft being rotated by the excess of the oil-transmitted pull of the clutch member over the oil-transmitted drag of the brake member, means to vary the proportionate clearance of said runner relative to said clutch member and to said brake member and including a spring acting to decrease the clearance of said runner with respect to said clutch member on decrease in take-up tension, and manual means to adjust the initial compression of said spring.

8. A take-up mechanism for a textile machine having a rotated take-up roll comprising an axially slidable driven shaft, a speed-reducing connection between said shaft and said rotated takeup roll and including a worm and worm gear, a continuously-rotated driving shaft, a, clutch member thereon, an opposed stationary brake member, means to adjust said brake member axially, a runner connected to said driven shaft and REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,450,489 Sepavich et al. Oct. 5, 1948 2,529,241 Bassist Nov. 7, 1950 2,539,296 Clentimack Jan. 23, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 423,222 Great Britain Jan. 28, 1935 624,642 Germany Jan. 25, 1936 

